In this painting of an elder Diné, with young children gathered by him, we are reminded that there was a time when stories about great deeds of the past were verbally relayed to the younger generation. It was in this way that lore and legend were passed from one generation to the next as there was no written Diné language until after World War II. It was for this reason that the Marines were able to use the famous Diné Code Talkers for passing encrypted instructions during the war.

This appears to be a very early painting by Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie (1916 - 2000), possibly one painted while attending the Santa Fe Indian School. The style is that of a student, not an accomplished artist, and the mat board appears to be hand cut, both being indications of student work. The painting was very well executed and illustrates why Dorothy Dunn thought so highly of Andy Tsihnahjinnie as an artist. She stated “[He] had no equals among the artists of the [Santa Fe Indian School] studio and perhaps few superiors among modern painters. If equanimity and self-confidence were to rule his artistic abilities, Tsihnahjinnie might well be one of America’s top-ranking painters.”